


when God had made a host of them

by Anonymous



Category: Video Blogging RPF
Genre: Alternate Universe - Bookstore, Angst, Found Family, Gen, Wholesome, bros being protective, just a lil bit tho, karen gets upset, nothing else to say about it, tagging this accurately?? What a silly concept, theyre a family now, this is set in the 90s but I use recent memes because I do what I want baby, unfinished but can be read as a oneshot
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-19
Packaged: 2021-03-03 02:08:08
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,454
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24267172
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/
Summary: Phil was worried, to say the least.Within the decade he had spent as the owner and manager of a small bookstore and cafe on Main Street, tucked between a martial arts dojo and a bridal shop, he had never dealt with such awful employees.A year ago, he had hired a high school sophomore named Wilbur J. Soot, and that was the first mistake in a long line of mistakes.
Relationships: this is a callout @smut writers please stop
Comments: 34
Kudos: 403
Collections: Anon Works





	when God had made a host of them

Phil was worried, to say the least.

Within the decade he had spent as the owner and manager of a small bookstore and cafe on Main Street, tucked between a martial arts dojo and a bridal shop, he had never dealt with such awful employees.

A year ago, he had hired a high school sophomore named Wilbur J. Soot, and that was the first mistake in a long line of mistakes.

~

The truth was, there was just no one else who wanted to work at Bluebird Books. Phil, for all his practicality, couldn’t see why. He so vividly remembered the days when the store was in its prime, remembered dozens of people crowding around shelves, sitting in the comfortable armchairs scattered around the shop, clutching books and pastries and devouring both as if they were starving.

He was 21 when his father offered him the keys to the store. Phil didn’t think; he took them with more enthusiasm than he had ever done anything. Even now, when he was older, wiser, and understood the hardships of trying to keep a business afloat, he clung to the frayed pages of a book he vowed never to shelf.

When one of his more long-time employees quit for a job at a big tech company, Phil wasn’t too concerned. Sure, finding new people could be a hassle, but usually a bright sign in the window was all it took to attract an adequate candidate.

After a couple months of no interest, Phil started to get nervous. His staff was stretched too thin, and they were beginning to complain. Phil didn’t see any other option except to turn to the newspaper, hoping that an ad or two would drum up some interest.

After five months of zero applications, however, Phil was desperate. He was forced to work the front desk the whole day in order to make sure the store was adequately run, which left him dealing with paperwork until four in the morning. The lack of sleep had taken its toll, causing his normally collected demeanor to slip more often than he was proud of.

When Wilbur J. Soot approached the front desk that fateful morning and asked for the application papers, Phil thought he was a godsend. The kid seemed put together enough, if a little quiet, but Phil didn’t really have the option of denying him anyway, so he called Wilbur after a couple days and gave him the good news.

It wasn’t until his first day on the job that Phil realized he had hired the potentially clumsiest person on the face of the earth.

Wilbur was tall and lanky, and he moved as if he didn’t quite know how he fit into the space around him. The first time he knocked some books off a shelf, Phil had smiled and told him not to worry about it. The fifth time, Phil told Wilbur he needed to watch where he was going. When it happened for the twelfth time, Phil exasperatedly ordered the kid to “man the hot chocolate machine and try not to kill anyone”. Wilbur had laughed and sheepishly promised he would try his best.

Not even an hour later, Phil heard a horrified scream.

When he busted open the doors of his office with much more force than required, thoughts speeding around his brain a mile a minute, he found that he wasn’t even that surprised to see Wilbur standing stock still as an older woman with a suspiciously fresh stain on her shirt berated him.

“Never in my life have I met someone so stupid! Do you know how much this blouse cost me?! Eighty dollars! That better be coming out of your paycheck or so help me—“

“Ma’am, that’s quite enough,” Phil intervened as he stepped between her and Wilbur. The poor kid was silent, his eyes wide and his shoulders hunched, and something angry and protective sprang to life in Phil’s chest.

The woman’s nostrils flared.

“Are you the manager?” she asked, and Phil heard his other employee snicker and mutter “Karen” under their breath. He might have laughed if he couldn’t hear Wilbur trying not to hyperventilate behind him.

“Yes, I am.”

“Then I demand you pay me for a replacement blouse, and that you fire,” when she pointed at Wilbur, he visibly flinched, “that idiot!”

Phil’s fists clenched at his sides.

“Ma’am, I apologize for my employee, and I will be happy to pay for your blouse, but I will not tolerate anyone insulting my employees.”

Phil turned his back to the woman to face Wilbur, and the offended scoff that came out of her mouth made Phil grimace.

“Wilbur, will you go and get my checkbook and a pen from off my desk?”

Wilbur nodded and practically sprinted towards the office, tripping over his feet in his hurry. He disappeared out of sight for a few seconds before running back with the items Phil requested. Wordlessly, he handed them over, shrinking again under the woman’s angry gaze.

Phil filled out a check for eighty dollars and ripped it from the checkbook. The woman snatched the check out of his hands and shoved it into her pocket. She spun around on her heel much more dramatically than the situation warranted and huffed.

“By the way,” she said, and the smugness in her tone made Phil grit his teeth, “I’m never coming back to this dump again.”

Phil waited until she slammed the doors behind her to whisper under his breath.

“Good riddance.”

The employee behind the front desk cackled. Phil laughed too, a relieved chuckle that melted the tension from his body. 

“I...”

Phil glanced at Wilbur, who seemed to have devolved since the woman’s rather theatrical exit. His hands were shaking and he couldn’t seem to force a cohesive sentence from his lips.

“I—I’m so sorry, I... I—“

“Wilbur,” Phil gently interrupted, glancing at the other employee who had fallen silent and was staring at them both, “meet me in my office.”

Wilbur blanched, but he nodded and didn’t protest as he followed Phil into the tiny office. Phil closed the door behind them, and the absence of prying eyes was enough to loosen Wilbur’s tongue.

“Please,” he began, and the way his voice cracked on the word was a punch to Phil’s gut, “I need this job. I’ll work for free to make up the loss, I promise, just don’t fire—“

“Woah, kid, it’s alright,” Phil said, hands raised placatingly as if not to scare away a spooked animal, “You’re okay. I’m not gonna fire you, man, it’s your first day. Everyone screws up on the first day.”

Wilbur inhaled sharply, and suddenly tears began falling down his face. He hastily wiped them away as he turned a mortifying shade of bright red, and Phil couldn’t do anything else but watch in silence as Wilbur fell apart and slowly pulled himself back together.

“Sorry, I just—,” he coughed, cleared his throat, sounded a little better as he soldiered on, “Today hasn’t been that great, and I guess... That was the tipping point.”

Wilbur shot him a watery, apologetic smile, and Phil didn’t think. He reached out and settled a firm, grounding hand on Wilbur’s shoulder. The kid looked at him with a question in his eyes, and Phil answered with a warm smile.

“On my third day working here, I accidentally told a blind woman she wasn’t allowed to have her service dog in the store.”

Wilbur’s eyes widened a bit before he barked out a laugh, short and surprised. 

“Really?” He asked, incredulous. Phil’s accompanying wheeze just made Wilbur laugh harder.

“That’s so bad,” Wilbur said when he had caught his breath, and Phil could only nod in agreement.

There was silence again, a pause in the conversation that allowed Wilbur to take deeper breaths and wipe the last of his tears away.

“Thanks,” Wilbur said, and something warm began to blossom in Phil’s heart.

“Anytime, kid.”

~

Phil was worried, to say the least. 

He watched Wilbur like a hawk for the first couple weeks. The kid was still clumsy, but he tackled every mistake with a laugh. He got on well with his coworkers, and he could often be found chatting amicably to customers perusing the shelves. Phil watched Wilbur help a little boy pick out a worn picture book about dinosaurs. He laughed as he watched Wilbur light about a dozen floral-scented candles to stave off the store’s “sickeningly artificial vanilla” smell. After a while, Phil stopped watching, satisfied that Wilbur was doing alright.

And yet, he remembered how small Wilbur had looked on his first day despite his obscene height, and he found that he couldn’t really stop worrying.

**Author's Note:**

> It is I, snart! Got some inspiration recently and just kinda,, made this. Huge shout out to Spaghettoi and sapphicist for the feedback on this chapter. If it’s possible that anyone who reads this hasn’t read any of their works, please do! 
> 
> Thanks for reading! Maybe drop a comment?? Tell me how u feel perhaps?? I’m open to any kind of feedback!
> 
> I have two more chapters planned, and then this will be my first ever completed fic on ao3! What an achievement! I’m so excited to get this done y’all have no idea.
> 
> (I made some edits to this chapter, and I think I like it a lot more now! Things actually make sense! Pogs in the chat boys!)
> 
> That’s all for now! Stay safe! Much love!
> 
> snart out :)


End file.
